Those Eyes
by Midnight'ssong22
Summary: What would've happened if Naruto and Gaara had met once before the Chuunin exams? Would things of been different? This is what happens when Gaara and Naruto are sent on similar missions. Their meeting possibly changing shinobi history forever.


**Those Eyes**

**By: Midnight'ssong22**

**Note: (Please Read) The words that are **Normal **are the first person speaking. The words in **_Italic _**are the second person speaking. The words in ****Bold**** are both people speaking together. It will ****not**** make sense otherwise. (this is rated T just in case)**

**I do not own Naruto**

-O-

**Those eyes. They're always the same. Filled with hatred, hatred of me. Those horrible, icy cold eyes.**

**I am a newborn child…**

I was born in the village hidden in the leaf.

_I was born in the village hidden in the sand._

**I am just a baby yet I am the most feared person in my village.**

I am an orphan, with no one willing to take care of me. I'm given what I need to survive but I am given no love or acceptance. Why doesn't anyone care about me?

_My mother died in childbirth and my father thinks of me as the ultimate weapon against his enemies. My older siblings fear me and treat me like a monster. I'm no monster! I'm just a child!_

-O-

**I am five years old…**

As I walk down the street I hear whispers.

"There's that boy," they say, "He's the one who…"

They don't think I can hear but I listen to every word intently. Trying to grasp the reason why I'm hated by everyone, but I can never understand what they say. They call me fox child, monster, and demon, but what did I do wrong? It seems they hate me just for being alive! The adults ignore me, and the children avoid me because they feel the fear from their parents. Why do they fear me?

_I swing on the swing set alone, clinging to the teddy bear that serves as my only friend. I watch the other children play when suddenly their ball gets stuck on a ledge. I think it's my chance to finally prove to them I'm a friend but my sand scares them away. I beg them to come back and play but they just keep running. I begin to cry and the sand billows around the other children, trying to bring them back to me._

_My sand hurts them and my uncle tells me to stop, in the end I hurt him too. What am I? I don't want to be a monster but it seems I'm turning into one._

-O-

**I am six years old…**

I want to be accepted so I'm going to join the academy to become a ninja. I'll train really hard and one day I'll be Hokage, the most respected man in the village. Then people will have to stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!

That is my dream and I don't care what anyone else thinks or says. I'll pursue this dream till the day I die and I'll become the most powerful ninja ever!

_Assassins are being sent to kill me. My father, the fifth Kazekage, is the one who sends them. They call me a threat due to my strange abilities and my tendency to accidentally hurt other villagers. In the end I always kill them, my sand protecting me from their wrath._

_I ask my uncle, Yashamaru, what pain feels like. I've tried to inflict pain on myself but my sand always stops me before the blade can hit skin. He tries to explain it to me but I guess I wont truly get it until I've felt it for myself._

-O-

**I am seven years old…**

I've started my training at the ninja academy but the other kids still ignore me. My grades at the moment are average but no matter what I do they never acknowledge me. Maybe if I play pranks and cause mischief I'll get attention. It could work.

_I'm sitting on the ledge of a building when suddenly I hear a whizzing sound of kunai cut through the silence. The sand, once again, protects me from the barrage of weapons and I force my sand upon the assassin. I close my fist, administering the killing blow on my newest opponent._

_I take a look at the assassin and realize familiarities that only one person I know could have. I tear off the mask on the assassin to reveal it's my uncle Yashamaru. The one person in this world I thought cared for me. And he just tried to murder me._

_I ask him why he did it, hoping that he had just been ordered to do this by my father, but my fears are confirmed. He wanted to kill me, to avenge his sister's death. He tells me that he had always hated me and that my mother had named me under the phrase of 'a self-loving carnage' for her intense hatred against the village. Not love for me._

_He tells me that no one will ever love me and his last words rang out as he set off the paper bombs on his body._

"_This is it. Please die."_

_The sand once again protects me but this time I wish it hadn't. I scream and cry as loud as I can and the sand billows around me in a sandstorm. I feel pain for the first time as the sand etches the kanji character for love on my forehead. A symbol that means that I am a demon that loves only myself. I have become what the villagers were afraid of. A monster._

-O-

**I am 12 years old…**

I've finally passed the graduation exam. This was my third attempt and I finally did it. I'm not the class clown anymore! I'm a ninja, believe it! Iruka-Sensei gave me his headband and told me I'd graduated. Then he took me out for some Ichiraku Ramen and I feel as if I've finally been accepted by someone. But along with my graduation I've finally come to terms with why everyone seems to hate me. That I am…

_I am a ninja now, but I could care less about what I am. I only care about what I live for. I used to annihilate all the assassins who tried to kill me but now that the attacks have stopped, I've found new targets. Anyone who threatens my existence will be killed._

_I don't sleep. I know if I ever do sleep the demon inside me will eat away at me until I die. I must kill whoever gets in my way no matter what. I've recently come to the realization of what I am… _

**I am a Jinchuriki. I didn't do anything wrong when I was younger yet I was branded a monster. I'm the most feared and hated thing in my village.**

I still haven't done anything wrong but people still hate me. I've found friends now but it doesn't make all of the pain go away.

_Now I _have_ done something wrong. Driven by the way people have treated me. I never wanted to be a monster but now I am._

**Those eyes just keep on hating me.**

-O-

I am Naruto Uzumaki and ever since I graduated things have gotten better for me. I'm on the ninja squad, Team Seven, with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Our teacher is Kakashi-Sensei and together we make a pretty awesome team. Well, except for Sasuke of course. He's just a big show-off, always trying to make me look bad.

We've just been given this important mission to go to the Hidden Valley to collect a rare herb that can help destroy poison in the bloodstream. The herb only grows in the Hidden Valley at this time of year. Winter. Crazy right? Who knew that plants could even grow in winter?

But that is our mission and after packing up, my team meets at the gate, now covered in snow, and we set off to the Hidden Valley. Hopefully we can get back in time to eat dinner at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

-O-

_My name is Gaara of the Sand and I have been stuck with a seriously idiotic mission. I like missions of assassinations, not some journey to gather herbs in this Hidden Valley place. Kankuro and Temari say that this herb can save lives. Like I care about that! I take lives not save them! Those idiots._

_But I suppose that the demon inside me can handle one day without bloodshed, but if we meet any enemy ninja on the way, they're mine. They'll be dead before they know what hit them._

-O-

We make it to the Hidden Valley with time to spare. I was wondering why they called it the Hidden Valley but now I understand why. I mean if Kakashi-Sensei hadn't stopped me I would've passed right by it.

A thick fog covers the whole valley. You can't even see three feet in front of your own face. With difficulty, my team and I step into the fog, the temperature dropping even lower as we start sliding down the edge of the snowy slope.

In the middle of our sliding I lose my balance and fall down the slope, falling face-first into the snow at the bottom.

"Naruto! Naruto!" I hear my friends call me as I stand up, but no matter how hard I try I can't figure out what direction their voices are coming from.

So, hoping that I'm lucky today, I pick a direction and start heading in it. Maybe if I don't find my friends, I'll find the plant so I can get out of here.

-O-

_The Hidden Valley is covered in so much fog and snow it would be too troublesome to go in together. So now I'm traveling in this alone, hoping to just find this stupid plant and get this mission over with. But what is that? I hear a voice._

"_Stupid plant! Where is it? Not only have I lost my friends but now this stupid plant is nowhere to be found!" the voice says angrily coming in my direction._

_I feel my blood start to boil as the person comes closer. The demon inside me begging for the blood of whoever this idiot is that has crossed my path. The sand starts to rush out of the gourd on my back as I ready myself for the kill. Maybe this mission isn't a waste of my time after all._

-O-

Suddenly I feel a force wrap around my body, holding me in place. I struggle against it but it's no use, whatever it is, it's strong stuff. I'm not going anywhere.

"Who's there?" I ask into the fog, trying to make out any shapes in the haze.

"I am Gaara of the Sand, the Demon of the Sand. And I'm the one who's going to kill you."

"Demon?" I ask in the direction of the voice, "Yeah right! You have no idea what it's like to be a demon! Or at least not to be treated as one." This guy sounded like Zabuza! Calling himself a demon. He had no idea what it's like to be a jinchuriki!

"That's where you're wrong. I do have the powers of a demon. I have the One-Tailed beast sealed inside me! So get used to the idea that you're about to be killed by a real demon!"

"Are you telling the truth?" I ask, my voice almost failing me. Could it be possible that this guy has suffered the same pain I have?

-O-

_This guy was really starting to annoy me. He didn't seem to be afraid of me! Even though I could finish him off in seconds. The One-Tailed beast was telling me to just finish him off already but there was something in the tone of this boy's voice that confused me. He sounded almost sympathetic._

"_Of course I'm telling you the truth! I am a demon and you are about to die!" I say trying to frighten him._

"_You're not a demon. Just the thing sealed inside of you is. I can tell you've suffered a lot, a Jinchuriki's life is always difficult," the boy answers quietly._

"_How could you possibly understand?" I growl, taking a step closer and looking into the boy's eyes._

"_Because the Nine-Tailed fox was sealed inside of me. I am a jinchuriki as well and I know your pain," He replies looking straight into my eyes._

_Those eyes. Those big blue eyes looking at me. Not full of disgust but understanding. Not fear but acceptance. Not hatred but kindness. Those eyes hold emotion I've never seen directed at me before. Those eyes cause me to drop my sand and sink to the ground._

-O-

I watch as Gaara drops to the ground, his sand dispersing from around me and back into his gourd. He's looking at his hands as if they were covered in blood. I approach him and sit down beside him.

He looks up at me, a look of turmoil and confusion in his eyes.

Those eyes. Filled to the brim of pain and suffering. Those eyes that show that he's on the edge of sanity and that he's just like me.

I spend the next hour talking to him, learning about his past and telling him of mine.

He explains to me how his father had wished for him to become the ultimate weapon and how his mother had died because of his father's wish. He talks of his siblings and the villagers back at his home. He talks of the assassins that had come after him and his uncle's betrayal.

I tell him of my life. The way I was treated and the things done to me because of the demon sealed within me. I tell him of my dream to become Hokage someday and he is surprised by my dream, saying there would be no possible way for jinchuriki like us to be able to do such a thing.

I deny his words saying that anything was possible if we worked hard enough. Believe it!

"Naruto!" Sakura yells running towards them from a distance, "We've got the plant, let's go! Wait, who's that?"

She stops in front of us, looking questionably at Gaara.

"This is Gaara of the Sand," I reply standing, "He's a friend."

"A friend?" He asks, still sitting in the snow an incredulous look on his face.

"Yeah, a friend."

-O-

_This boy, who I just met and almost killed, has already accepted me as a friend? Is it even possible?_

"_What's your name?" I ask quietly standing slowly._

"_Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that before. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the greatest ninja ever! Believe it!"_

"_Yeah right, Naruto! You're the greatest ninja? How about saying that when you're as good as Sasuke!" the pink haired girl replied, "By the way, my name is Sakura Haruno, glad to meet you."_

"_And I'm Sasuke Uchiha. We're sorry you had to face that loser Naruto all alone. He's such a dobe," said a boy with jet-black hair who suddenly appeared from behind me._

"_Shut up, Sasuke!" yells Naruto in reply, "I don't think Gaara thinks I'm annoying at all, right?"_

_I shake my head no in reply, amazed that these three were treating me as a real person instead of a monster. The One-Tailed beast within me was begging me to kill these people yet for once I knew I couldn't._

"_You're a Shinobi from the village hidden in the sand, aren't you? What are you doing way out here?" asked a white-haired man that appeared from the mist._

"_Yes, I was sent here to collect medicinal herbs with my team to take back to my village," I reply quickly hoping this man wasn't going to suspect me of anything. But he surprised me, giving me a smile from behind his mask and holding something up in his hand._

"_Is this what you came for?" He asked holding up the exact herb my team was sent here for._

"_Yes, but how did you know…" I start but he interrupts me, explaining that it was the same mission that they had been sent on. He tells me that they had an extra one and would be happy to give it to me._

_With that, the four leaf ninja prepare to leave, bidding me farewell._

"_See you around, Gaara," Naruto says giving me a pat on the back, "And remember what I said. Don't let those ninja have a reason to fear you, try to make friends in your village. And if you can't do that, always remember that Naruto Uzumaki is your friend from the Leaf." _

"_Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki," I reply quietly. He gives me a big smile and then runs off following his friends into the mist. _

_I don't think he'll ever understand exactly what he's done to me. He's changed me. I don't want to be the horrible monster the villagers have branded me anymore. I don't want to kill anymore but what purpose will my existence serve?_

_What Naruto said runs through my mind._

"_I'm gonna become Hokage! Then the whole village will have to stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!" he had said._

"_I'm going to become Kazekage, the likes of which have never been seen," I whisper, liking the way my new purpose in life sounded. So with the herb in hand I make my way back to my teammates, ready to take on my new life._

-O-

**I am nineteen years old…**

I am Hokage of the Leaf village.

_I am Kazekage of the Sand village._

**A boy I met when I was twelve changed me.**

He was in need. He was just like me. I realized then that I had to accomplish my dream to prove to him that Jinchuriki like us could be accepted and loved like everyone else. Gaara and I are still good friends and our villages share our friendship. My dream has been accomplished…

_He saved me from a life of murdering. He not only saved my pathetic life but the lives that were in risk because of me. He saved me from my demon back then and that has made me into what I am now. We've met a couple more times since that day. Once at the Chuunin exams where I made it to the finals without killing a single person. A second time when he saved me from the Akatsuki. And a third time at the Kage Summit a few days ago. I'm no longer seen as a monster but I am respected as the Kazekage…_

**And those eyes don't look at me with hatred any longer. Those eyes shine with kindness, acknowledgement, and love. Those eyes are what I've been waiting to see for a long time.**

-O-

**End of Story**

**This is just a oneshot I came up with on the spot and I had to write it down. Please Review, I'd like to know what you think of my story! (By the way, if you didn't read the note at the top, this story might not of made much sense to you. Or maybe your as smart as Shikamaru and figured it out on your own.)**


End file.
